I'm having trouble finding turkey/chicken necks for JD. (We give them to him to help his teeth, which are bad.) They only have them here around the winter holidays when they butcher special order turkeys and there is enough demand that I can't get enough to last the year. But I see that they carry chicken feet at Walmart.

So, would chicken feet have any benefit for his teeth? Are there tendons and bone enough to keep his teeth strong, or are the bones too hard/too splintery?

I've heard that if you offer them, they should be carefully cleaned first because sometimes they're dirty, and the smell might put the cats off....also that the talons should be removed and the toes cut in half (or at least off the foot) before feeding to your cat. Anyone know how to treat the bones in the foot? Do they need to be broken up, as well?

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"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

The wing tips are good - they are more of a cartilage type meat - which is good for the jaws, and to help maintain the teeth.

I am a little skeptical of the marrow bones closer to the body. Because they can splinter and cause a choking hazard. A lot depends on JD - if he's an aggressive chewer like our Yogi is - anything that goes into his mouth can be swallowed and quite often to his disgust, when it comes to the meat in his meal, he ends up throwing it back into his plate. I've been warned that for cats of this type, the marrow bone in the wings or legs can pose a choking problem.

What we have found is the frozen Cornish Hens have the necks with them that BB loves. She'll eat half a neck in the time it takes to toast a couple of slices of bread. Are Cornish Hens something that you folks eat? That would be a way to get a couple of necks for JD.

Something else you might think about is buying whole fresh chickens at your butcher shop and cutting them up yourself. Cut out the spine really close and split it in half and cut it into chunks and see if that works for him.

When it comes to making raw food, I am very particular about grinding the bones a couple of times to relieve choking hazards in the food.

The spine is very similar to the neck, just a little bigger. It's worth a thought.

I haven't had anything to do with chicken feet - in fact we haven't seen them at all - scarce as hen's teeth.

I'd be interested in Longblades experience with chicken wings and the marrow bones in them, if she has had any at all.

I always watch the amount of bone in the food. Too much has a tendency to cause constipation.

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They ask no Questions. They pass no Criticisms.

Yogi throws the meat back up? Silly kitty! That's the good stuff. But the bone stays down? That's interesting. Every wonder how they do that so selectively?

I keep forgetting to check for whole chickens. Most of the places around here order those pre-packaged 'parts' meat, though--at least for chicken. I've been concentrating on calling around for necks and forgot to ask...but if they have whole ones, I have no problem with cutting them up and saving the necks for JD. Must put that on the list! So you just offer the vertebral part, not that sort of flat bone that stabilizes the spine (well, I know turkeys have that on their back, just makes sense that chickens and Cornish hens may have it, too)?

I do give him the wing tips...but only the wing tips, because they seem to have the most cartilage and I was uncertain about the long bones in the rest of the wing. Cartilaginous pieces give him the most chewing exercise, which is what I'm going for.

Cornish hens is a good idea--I'm pretty sure I can get them but I don't know how much of the neck/spine they have in them. Hubby doesn't like them, but I can always cook them up and nosh on them for lunch for a few days.

I was a bit nervous about introducing too much bone. JD is on canned food. I only use the bony stuff to exercise his teeth/jaws, and only once a week, because I can't find a good supply of necks. (Why they'd be stocking feet instead of something like necks, I have no clue. Seems like feet wouldn't be nearly the seller that necks might be, but then, I have a cat that could use more necks and can't get them, so I'd be inclined to think so! ) I've been watching his stools carefully and the added bone doesn't seem to have much affect. He'll chew and chew and chew on the necks, but any larger pieces of bone are sucked clean, crunched into smaller pieces and left in the bottom of his platter.

Our current plan of attack is to eat a turkey every month or so, but as much as I love turkey, even I'm getting really, really tired of it...and hubby is now threatening to make me eat ham (which I hate) for Easter!

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Yogi is not a bone type cat. BB is the bone kitty. Both Yogi and Mrg will not partake in bones.

When I make up cat food, I will take some of the raw meat and chunk it so those 2 will at least have something to exercise their jaws on and Yogi has a bad habit of biting twice and then trying to swallow - which quite often ends in a throw up. I tried him today on a piece of turkey neck and the look I got insinuated that I was trying to feed him garbage and he walked away, and BB finished it off in short time.

When I make up the "fowl" cat food, I grind up the bones - put them through the grinder twice - and mix everything together - meat, ground up bones, supplements, egg yolks, and a wee bit of veggie - and this is the raw food mix I feed to them. The turkey or chicken necks are kept as a treat if they come with the bird.

Seeing what Longblades has to say about the wings, I'd be tempted to try the tip down to the 2nd joint and see how he handles it. It might be best to try it in an evening so you can sit and supervise him. I'm thinking I might try it as well and see how BB likes it.

As far as constipation - if you're feeding just a small amount, like a piece of neck or wing 2 or 3 times a week - I don't think you should have any problem. Just keep an eye on the litter box and watch JD when he's using it.

__________________
Animals are such agreeable Friends.
They ask no Questions. They pass no Criticisms.

JD sometimes gets a vertebra hung up on a canine and although he's been able to scrape it free himself so far, it's a little quicker if I hang onto the pesky bit of bone and let him back away from it--so I do supervise him with the necks. He's definitely in the BB camp when it comes to necks--he usually finishes it off in less than 5 minutes. He'd be all over anything Yogi turned his nose up at! I sure hope all the chewing helps his teeth

I'm still trying to work up the courage to go raw with JD. He's doing so well on the canned food that I hate to change anything. Do you have to add supplements to the raw mix you make?

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Just to add, I wish I'd had the video ready the first time mine got chicken necks. They were 7 months old, two kittens, and their mother. Usually they all ate side by side but with the chicken necks they growled at each other, took their necks away to a more separate spot and just demolished them. Or they tried, it was harder for them to eat, which is where the teeth benefits come in, I guess.

When it comes to making the cat food, I follow a recipe using a variety of meats and supplements, due to the fact that no meal is nutritionally complete, even in the wild. They have to eat protein from different animals, including bugs.

So if you're toying with the idea of feeding JD raw diet I'd suggest getting a few different recipes and finding one that you feel comfortable to use.

If you would like, I can email you some recipes for you to take a look at - knowing the fun you have accessing web sites.

We're lucky to live in an area where the neighbour "tosses food over the fence for the cats". The other day he dropped off some Moose sausages and steak for the cats to try. He said "here's some cat food, and you can have some too." So tonight they got a taste of raw Moose steak and Yogi growled at the other two. He must have read Longblades note.

As usual, he tried to swallow it whole and coughed a bit but didn't throw any back. Just looked for more.

Mrg just smelled it and walked away, and then BB took over and devoured it before Yogi could get to it. Mrg is 9 years and BB is 10 and Yogi will be 10 on May 1st.

They have also had a taste of sausage that I cooked for us for supper. And that went over big for all of them. They won't eat store bought.

It dawned on me that Yogi was never given necks when he was a young kitten - we just never thought of it. We were too busy looking after our late Missy with her problems, and giving them to her. So it's just in the past couple of years that he has been offered them occasionally. The same with Mrg. And it has only been in the past 4 years that they have been fed raw diet --- before that it was the kibble bit and canned food. I did raw with Missy for 10 years because her system required it. And it was a request by our vet at the time.

If you do decide to do the raw -------- go the extra mile and you'll have a much happier and healthier kitty cat. Canned food is better than dry food by a long shot, but raw is the cadillac.

I had a quick look at the web site that Barkingdog suggested and it looks quite interesting. Buying raw necks by the way they are packaged - would keep JD in necks until the cows come home unless you are willing to give them to the dogs as treats as well.

__________________
Animals are such agreeable Friends.
They ask no Questions. They pass no Criticisms.

Just to add, I wish I'd had the video ready the first time mine got chicken necks. They were 7 months old, two kittens, and their mother. Usually they all ate side by side but with the chicken necks they growled at each other, took their necks away to a more separate spot and just demolished them. Or they tried, it was harder for them to eat, which is where the teeth benefits come in, I guess.

I wish you'd had the video ready, too! I really love my chicken. You never want to reach for a piece of chicken I have my eye on--I growl, too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barkingdog

hazel , I found this web site for chicken necks , could you buy the necks this way?

Thanks, Barkingdog. Finally managed to open the link. Sort of expensive, but I bookmarked it. I can't believe how hard it's turning out to find a local source for something as seemingly inconsequential as chicken necks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reg

Hi again Hazel:

So if you're toying with the idea of feeding JD raw diet I'd suggest getting a few different recipes and finding one that you feel comfortable to use.

If you would like, I can email you some recipes for you to take a look at - knowing the fun you have accessing web sites.

Thanks, Reg! I'll PM you with an email addy. I knew about the different protein sources--still trying to track down local supplies for any of them. I might have to start raising meat animals! But I'm not sure I'd have the stomach to butcher any of them once I looked into their eyes... We have a lot of Amish in the area and they do a fair amount of butchering, so eventually I'm hoping I can maybe hook up with the right people and find a good supply...maybe...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reg

I had a quick look at the web site that Barkingdog suggested and it looks quite interesting. Buying raw necks by the way they are packaged - would keep JD in necks until the cows come home unless you are willing to give them to the dogs as treats as well.

I think the dogs would love to help out in that regard! In fact, they have been known to steal chicken breasts off the counter when we get careless...

Funny how your cats are so different in their response to raw! Such unique personalities!

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

I wonder what is being done with all the poultry giblets today , I wanted to buy my dog some before I knew he couldn't eat chicken and I couldn't find any in the store. That too bad the link is too expense ,I didn't check out the cost .

I think a lot of the giblets must go for pet food, Barkingdog--some of it (like livers) you can find easily in the stores for human consumption, but hearts and gizzards seem to disappear... It's a pity, since I love hearts and gizzards.

Today, JD is trying his first wing tip. I found some whole Amish chickens in the store up at Thorp and butchered one out, keeping the wing tips and a good section of neck that was still attached to the body Since we go through a fair amount of chicken in a week, it shouldn't be a problem keeping JD in chewing material anymore.

__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."